Autumn

Double Crust Pumpkin Chocolate Pie

November 13, 2018

Thanksgiving Day is right around the corner and what kind of Thanksgiving would it be without a pumpkin pie? A table without this beloved pie is the most blasphemous idea I can think of on such an important day. It comes but once a year and so we need to make sure we do it 100% right. In my family, we started making a pumpkin pie and an apple or peach pie but then we quickly realized that everyone wanted to eat the pumpkin pie, so now we just make two pumpkin pies and call it a day. This year though I’ve had the great idea of making a double crust pumpkin pie with a layer of chocolate because we all know that two crusts are always better than one. You can quote me on that. It’s a great pie that can be made ahead of time, which is great because you’re always going to be very busy on the big day and the last thing you want to be worrying about is making a pie on the day of. The solution: make it ahead of time, chill until ready to eat and then sit back, relax and enjoy the day, as you should.

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Spicy Pumpkin Mini Corn Dogs

October 26, 2018

I know that upon reading the title of this post, some of you were probably a little skeptical (my husband included). I mean, pumpkin and corn dogs together in the same sentence? Will the madness ever end? I would like to preface this by saying that these corn dogs are not at all sweet. Whenever we think about pumpkin recipes in general, they tend to be desserts and so because of this we associate pumpkin with sweets, but pumpkin by itself, fresh pumpkin that is, actually leans more on the savory side. There’s a tinge of natural sweetness, much like some of the other squash within the same family, but that’s about it. I had this crazy idea to make a pumpkin cornbread a couple days ago, and when I was dreaming up the recipe, the idea to turn the batter into corn dogs hit me all of a sudden, and it just might be the greatest idea I’ve ever had…or the craziest, depends who you ask. I’ve played around with savory pumpkin recipes before like this vegetable pot pie from a few years back and let’s not forget this pumpkin pizza sauce! I might even say that savory pumpkin recipes are my new favorite, but I think that’s because I tend to gravitate more towards the savory rather than the sweet. Let’s be daring together and give this a try soon, you won’t regret it!

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Pumpkin Pizza

November 4, 2016

It’s pumpkin season and I’m sure you’re getting pumpkin recipes thrown at you left to right. Most of them are sweet, as we know pumpkin mostly in sweet form, but every now and then we’ll be pleasantly surprised because a delicious savory pumpkin recipe with come at us outta left field. Completely unexpected but totally welcomed. Take this Pumpkin Pizza for instance. It’s savory and it’s out of this world. An easy to make homemade pumpkin pizza sauce is what anchors this entire dish and makes it a bit unforgettable. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but pumpkin by itself tends to be rather bland actually. I mean, it’s got a little bit of a squash flavor (because it’s a squash), almost nutty, but other than that it’s pretty plain. The sweetness we usually associate it with comes from the sugar and of course pumpkin spice that are mixed into it for pies and cookies and cheesecakes. Because of this, pumpkin lends itself really well to savory dishes, especially this pizza sauce. The toppings like the chorizo, mushrooms, arugula and pumpkin seeds balance everything perfectly with the sauce, making it your new favorite Fall pizza flavor. Leftovers are great the next day, so If I were you, I’d make two pizzas. You’re going to want it. No, you’re going to need it.

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Croissant Ham and Cheese Stuffing

November 10, 2015

It’s never too early to start talking about and planning for the big day. The big day being Thanksgiving, of course. It’s the most important day of the year, especially when it comes to eating all of the food known to man. It’s the one day out of the year I look forward to the most. Aside from Halloween and Christmas and Fourth of July. Okay, so maybe I look forward to more than just one day, but Thanksgiving is the most important. Mainly because I’m all about eating loads of food in one sitting without any regret or second guessing. Give me the turkey and all the sides because I will eat them all. The one piece of advice I can give to you is to have fun and DON’T BE STRESSED! Easier said than done, I know, but if you plan it all out and get a game plan in place, you’ll be good to go. The first order of business is the stuffing. What stuffing will you be making?! Trick question, because you’ll be making this stuffing.

I’ve teamed up with Jones Dairy Farm to bring you a new and exciting stuffing recipe that’s sure to take the spotlight from that turkey (don’t say I didn’t warn you). This stuff is made with day old croissants and is loaded with Jones hickory ham, leeks, dijon mustard and gruyere cheese. It’s so fancy and posh. Which I think basically means the same thing as fancy, but that’s okay because I feel like being both fancy and posh this Thanksgiving. Sue me. This stuffing is what you make—a.k.a. pull out of your sleeve like a magician—when you have important guests coming over and you need to impress them. So dust off that good china, iron that sophisticated table cloth and pop open that wine because the holiday season has officially begun and we all deserve to celebrate. Go ahead and knock your guests’ socks off. You’re about to be a stuffing champion. I’m so proud of you.

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Pumpkin Pie Cake

September 10, 2015

I’m worse than those convenience stores that sell halloween costumes in August, or Christmas decor right after halloween. I complain about those stores all the time, and here I am already bringing pumpkin spice into the mix and it’s hotter than hot here in Los Angeles. As I type this I have the AC on full blast and it’s well into the evening. What is going on right now? I’m not about this kind of life. Summer isn’t even over yet and I’ve begun to force autumn down your throats. Sure it might not feel like fall right now and okay, maybe I am rushing things a little bit, but I have good reason to. Hopefully you’ll forgive me once you find out about what’s going on. The word GIVEAWAY will most certainly catch your attention. More so because I just capitalized it. It should catch your attention though because I myself love free things. More free things for everyone, is my motto.

I don’t host as many giveaways on here as I should, and I always tell myself, “Self, you should host more giveaways on the blog.” I then proceed to tell myself what a good idea I just had, and give myself a few pats on the back. But then I somehow forget about it, but that’s probably a good thing, because when I do remember to give stuff away, it makes it a lot more special. Don’t you agree? This giveaway happens to be special. Look mamma! I’m on the cover of a magazine! Well, not me but my work is, and that definitely still counts. That’s my big bundt (cake) right there on the cover. Isn’t it marvelous? Right there on the cover.

A few months back, way back when summer was just starting and it most certainly felt way too soon to think about, let alone talk about fall time desserts and pumpkin spice in general, I was busy brainstorming a few recipes for this magazine, “The Pumpkin Spice Handbook.” It’s the ultimate guide to the incredibly loved fall time spice blend. There’s over 100 recipes, that all use pumpkin spice in it, from savory to sweet. It’s all jam-packed into this amazing looking magazine. I myself have two recipes in it (humble brag) and I would love it if you snagged yourself a copy. Note: This Pumpkin Pie Cake isn’t one of the two recipes. This is one from the drawing board that didn’t make it in the issue. So you’ll definitely want to get the other two recipes I contributed. You won’t regret it. It’s on sale now and you can find it in Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens and most major grocery stores nationwide (basically all the stores).

Lucky for you, yes you reading this post, right at this very moment, I’m giving away a few copies to three lucky winners! Big shout out to the gracious editor, Elise Portale, for making this giveaway possible. All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me what your favorite fall dessert is (or savory dish for those without a sweet tooth). Three people will be picked at random on Saturday. My mom will pick the winners because she loves reading all of your comments anyway, so we might as well make her useful (kidding, mom). No, but really. Good luck! I’m sending you all positive vibes. I want you to win.

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Salted Caramel Apple and Pear Buckles

November 7, 2014

I needed a super fancy name for this post, hence the word “buckles.” Although in all reality, these are buckles. Buckles. Buckles. Buckles. I just really like saying “buckles” for some reason. Like that one very popular song I used to love as a kid. One, two, buckle my shoe. Three, four, close the door….wait, where was I? Oh that’s right, I was talking about how much I love these crumb cakes. That’s basically what buckles are, just really good coffee cake-like dessert. The perfect dessert or breakfast for autumn. Is it a problem that it’s been 80 plus degrees here in Los Angeles, and I’m baking for fall with the air conditioning running on full blast? I think it’s a problem. Clearly, Southern California didn’t get the whole changing of the season memo. Get it together LA! You’re way behind, it’s almost Thanksgiving. This is the part where you change the colors of your leaves and drop them to the ground. This is when you’re supposed to start pouring down on us all of this autumn rain. You’re doing it all wrong, California. You need to be more like the East Coast, or like Seattle. I’m all about Seattle weather.

You know what I’m also all about? These salted caramel apple and pear buckles. AKA apple and pear spice cakes with a crumb topping. Even though it’s still hot as summer during the day in the West Coast, I still get a craving for a warm apple spice cake every November. I decided to take this recipe over the edge with a little (okay more than a little) salted caramel and of course let’s not forget about the cinnamon and oatmeal crumb topping. It’s like the world’s best coffee cake had a baby with the world’s best cobbler or fruit crisp. It’s like the universe is trying to tell me I should be spending my days eating all of the apple spice crumb cakes in the world. Hey, what can I say? When the world talks to me, I listen. Especially when there’s cake involved.

Speaking of cake, I’m having a really difficult time establishing if this cake is actually a breakfast or a dessert. Of course, if this is my mother or my doctor asking, I have most definitely decided that this is in fact not the perfect breakfast. Wink wink. Shhhh don’t tell anyone yet. This all stays between you and I. Although I did actually make these with the idea on my mind that I need more breakfast recipes. So it can really go either way on this folks. I don’t care about what time during the day I eat it, just as long as I get to eat it. Am I right ladies and gentlemen? Of course I’m right. So now let’s go out and celebrate by making and eating these apple and pear buckles. It’s the only way to celebrate!

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